Certificate of Occupancy in rural northern Maine (Verona: insurance, house)

[SmalleyGirl5]

Can anyone shed any light on the certificate of occupancy requirements in rural northern Maine for 2017? I live in Drew Plantation, Maine which has a population of 30 people if you REALLY STRETCH it.
I am asking because I recently put up a 3 bedroom home on my father's land which will in turn pass from him to myself and several brothers and sisters.
I submitted a building permit for my home and got the septic approved by an inspector. I am about to have the well drilled and the plumbing and electrical work done. My family is 100% capable of wiring and plumbing the house themselves without any government intervention. My Dad was a remodeling contractor in southern Maine for 20 years. However, of course, things have changed these days with all the new laws etc.
I am getting a little panicky when I read of all the restrictions and requirements of getting a home signed off and approved by today's absurd standards.
Please be aware I am not an "Anything Goes" type and abide by the laws of my state. However, I feel that the absurd restrictions imposed by officials making laws for southern Maine applied to rural Maine where your next door neighbor is over 7 miles away is a bit ludicrous.
Can anyone tell me if they ran into trouble moving into an unfinished home before it was signed off? I am not the type of person who will never finish my home either. I have VERY expensive tastes and intend to really do a beautiful job on this house. However, expensive tastes take time to furnish and I would love the ability to rough it until I can actually afford all the last touches. Advice is greatly appreciated!

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by SmalleyGirl5

Can anyone shed any light on the certificate of occupancy requirements in rural northern Maine for 2017?

I have never dealt with such a device.

... I submitted a building permit for my home and got the septic approved by an inspector

You say "My family is 100% capable of wiring and plumbing the house themselves without any government intervention". Then you also say that you want the gubermint to 'inspect' your septic?

I find that confusing.

... I am getting a little panicky when I read of all the restrictions and requirements of getting a home signed off and approved by today's absurd standards

'Signed off' for what?

'Approved' by who?

... Can anyone tell me if they ran into trouble moving into an unfinished home before it was signed off?

I built our house. I 'inspected' it myself. I stamped it grade 'A'.

Only 'trouble' I am aware of is if you run afowl of the game warden.

[mainebrokerman]

if you dont have a town office,,,,,(code enforcement officer)

then take a look at this,,,it has a couple phone numbers to call and ask


chrome-extension://oemmndcbldboiebfnladdacbdfmadadm/http://digitalmaine.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1007&context=lupc_docs

[maineguy8888]

Northern Maine Land Man knows a lot about this. Submariner too.

[kellysmith]

In rural Maine typically you will need to follow the State guidelines for building codes, since most small towns do not have their own. You do need to get a state permit for the septic and that will be inspected when complete, but sounds like you did that. Electrical is sort of weird in Maine. You need a licensed Electrician to do the work, unless you are doing it yourself. In other words your buddy can't do it for you without a license. That probably won't get inspected, but when you are ready for insurance, the insurance agent will probably do a walk through. Also, typically the power company will not hook up to your place unless the electric panel and entry cabling have been installed by a licensed electrician. That's a power company decision, not a law. Most of rural Maine does not get to the point where the Code Enforcement Officer will give you a Permit of Occupancy. Best thing to do is check with the local town office. They could go down that road if they followed the State codes to the letter.

[SmalleyGirl5]

Originally Posted by Submariner

I have never dealt with such a device.





You say "My family is 100% capable of wiring and plumbing the house themselves without any government intervention". Then you also say that you want the gubermint to 'inspect' your septic?

I find that confusing.





'Signed off' for what?

'Approved' by who?





I built our house. I 'inspected' it myself. I stamped it grade 'A'.

Only 'trouble' I am aware of is if you run afowl of the game warden.

No, I didn't want them to inspect it! Everyone told me I HAD to have them do it. The guy who put in the septic does that for work all around here. Sorry to be confusing. People I talk to about this say I will need an electrician to wire it and a plumber to plumb it and then it will have to be "approved" by LURC before I can move in. True or false? I love your response "
I built our house. I 'inspected' it myself. I stamped it grade 'A'. "

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by SmalleyGirl5

No, I didn't want them to inspect it! Everyone told me I HAD to have them do it. The guy who put in the septic does that for work all around here. Sorry to be confusing. People I talk to about this say I will need an electrician to wire it and a plumber to plumb it and then it will have to be "approved" by LURC before I can move in. True or false? I love your response "
I built our house. I 'inspected' it myself. I stamped it grade 'A'. "

Back when I built our house, my permit included a certificate of 'self-inspection and completion'.



We have a neighbor who decided that he wanted an outhouse last year. He hired a septic design engineer to design the hole. Then after he dug the hole, he hired a health inspector to inspect the hole and sign permit.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

You rang?

In 27 years in this business I have never seen anybody need an occupancy permit. If some clown told a family in Maine that they had to sleep in a tent on their lawn on a rainy night instead of in their nice warm home, you just wouldn't see that person around any more. Simple as that.

You can sleep in your camp or home while it is under construction. People sleep in cellars that are decked over. My neighbor did it for years until he saved up enough money to finish the house. I guarantee that he never had a certificate of occupancy. I was elected to the Verona Planning Board in 1974 and have been involved in land issues ever since. Many of the superstitions we hear about have come from other states <snip>.

Moderator cut: Off topic material completely unrelated to the topic of the thread removed. Please try to stay on topic.

Welcome to our forum SmalleyGirl5. Pull up a seat and sit around the fire with us.

[SmalleyGirl5]

Originally Posted by Northern Maine Land Man

You rang?

In 27 years in this business I have never seen anybody need an occupancy permit. If some clown told a family in Maine that they had to sleep in a tent on their lawn on a rainy night instead of in their nice warm home, you just wouldn't see that person around any more. Simple as that.

You can sleep in your camp or home while it is under construction. People sleep in cellars that are decked over. My neighbor did it for years until he saved up enough money to finish the house. I guarantee that he never had a certificate of occupancy. I was elected to the Verona Planning Board in 1974 and have been involved in land issues ever since. Many of the superstitions we hear about have come from other states <snip>.

Moderator cut: Off topic material completely unrelated to the topic of the thread removed. Please try to stay on topic.

Welcome to our forum SmalleyGirl5. Pull up a seat and sit around the fire with us.

Northern Maine Land Man, Thank you so much for your reply! This is kind of what I suspected but there are so many rumors floating around I wanted to hear from someone else who had tried it which is why I posted here.
In Drew Plantation we have difficulty getting the roads plowed on a regular basis so I really felt a certificate of occupancy seemed a bit much. As I am always saying, people deciding to settling in rural Maine instead of moving away puts money back into the local economy, and why wouldn't the state want that? With all due respect I think I will plumb in the sink and toilet hook up the electricity and just move in! Thank you again for the response.....nice to hear from someone who has been doing this for 27 years.

[maineguy8888]

He's been at it longer than 27 years.
And I enjoy his rambling........